Mexico: In two weeks there were four hate crimes in Veracruz and Puebla
Discrimination continues to rise and led to violent incidents during May. The role of organized crime.
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MEXICO CITY, Mexico. In the last two weeks of May, four hate crimes against LGBT+ people were committed in Mexico. A trans woman, identified as Jenny, was murdered in Papantla on May 18 in a bar. The attack was linked to organized crime.
On May 19 in the port of Veracruz, Isaí Chiñas and David Córdoba were beaten and robbed by police officers. That same day, Roberto Velasco was shot by a neighbor who discriminated against him. He died a week later from his injuries.
More than 200 kilometers away, on the outskirts of the city of Puebla, they found Oscar's lifeless body with signs of violence at his home.
A violent 2023 for diversity
In Veracruz, 19 LGBT+ people have been victims of hate crimes so far in 2023. Of these, 15 were violent deaths and 4 were acts of discrimination. These crimes are concentrated in the high mountain and central regions of the state, according to records kept by the Veracruz-based organization Soy Humano , founded by Jazz Bustamante.
In 2022, Veracruz was the second most violent state for LGBTQ+ people, with ten hate crimes committed. Puebla, on the other hand, ended that same year with three people murdered due to prejudice based on their gender identity. This is according to the latest report Letra S observatory .
“In the context of widespread discrimination faced by LGBT+ people in our country, murder stands out as the most extreme expression. However, homicide is not the only form of violence that a gender-diverse person can suffer. Violent incidents range from verbal abuse, threats, insults, and physical assaults to sexual abuse and arbitrary police detentions,” details the Letras S .
In Veracruz, LGBT groups and activists protested in front of the Attorney General's office against the wave of hate crimes in the state. They demanded training and awareness strategies for the administration of justice. "Our lives are just as dignified as anyone else's; we have the right to a life free from prejudice," they said .
Jenny was murdered by members of organized crime.
Jenny was a trans woman who managed the bar El Indio, located on Artes Street in Papantla, Veracruz. No news report provided information about her age or last name.
According to local press reports , around 8:00 p.m., three men entered the establishment with long guns, identified themselves as hitmen from “Gente Nueva” (an organized crime group linked to drug trafficking), and opened fire on six people. Three were killed and three were wounded. Despite the bar's proximity to the Papantla city hall, no arrests have been made.
Organized crime against diversity
According to trans activist Jazz Bustamante, organized crime is a sexist and patriarchal group that attacks LGBT+ people with greater cruelty.
“There are certain patterns and very specific violence. They are trained or are trained to kill with cruelty and torture. We have the case of our colleague Chuca in the high mountains and that of a fellow sex worker who was sexually tortured in Poza Rica,” Bustamante explained to Presentes .
In contexts where widespread violence is escalating and the militarized security strategy of the war on drugs is maintained, 5 out of 10 trans women in Mexico are murdered by firearms, according to a report published by the organization Intersecta.
The attack on Jenny gained national attention because the assailants broadcast the incident live. The state governor, Cuitláhuac García, said the attack was linked to a settling of scores between criminal gangs vying for control of northern Veracruz, and that the prosecutor's office has made significant progress in the investigation.
Isaí and David were beaten and robbed by police officers.
On the night of May 19 in the city of Veracruz, Isaí Chiñas and her husband David Córdoba left a family gathering and were intercepted by two state police officers who beat, subdued and robbed them.
“We were brutally attacked by members of the state police. They never identified themselves; they just came to assault and rob us with blows (…) It’s obvious that part of the problem for them is that we are part of the LGBTQ+ community. They didn’t insult us, it was all blows,” told the local news outlet XEU Noticias.
The police never identified themselves. Besides their money, they stole a gold bracelet and a silver bracelet. They didn't take the cell phones because the blows destroyed the screens, Isaí says.
The couple filed a complaint with the justice authorities and are waiting for the Prosecutor's Office to request the security camera recordings from the C4 and C5 (Command and Control Centers for Communications and Citizen Contact, respectively).
According to their accounts, this is not the first time they have been attacked and discriminated against by state police. In Mexico, three out of ten LGBT+ people have experienced discriminatory treatment by the police. The most common form of discrimination is being questioned without apparent reason, according to the latest Survey on Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity ( ENDOSIG, 2018 ).
Murdered by religious fanaticism
On May 19th in Colinas de Santa Fe in the city of Veracruz, Roberto Velasco, a 44-year-old gay man, was attacked by his neighbor, Julio 'N'. The assailant shot Roberto several times.
According to press reports , the shooting occurred while Roberto was sweeping his yard. Julio 'N' complained that the dust was falling on his car, and they argued. The neighbor shot Roberto and fled with his wife.
According to local media, the couple are fugitives from justice. They had a history of insulting and discriminating against Roberto because of his sexual orientation.
Roberto underwent surgery twice, but died on May 28. Jazz Bustamante confirmed that the man's family filed a homicide complaint. An investigation has been opened by the Veracruz State Attorney General's Office.
Oscar was murdered in his home in Puebla
On May 23, in San Francisco Totimehuacan, located on the outskirts of the city of Puebla, the family of 25-year-old Oscar 'N' found him dead with signs of violence. They had lost contact with him and went looking for him.
Press reports indicate that a television, wallet, and cell phone were missing from his home. They explain that authorities were informed of Oscar's sexual orientation, and the investigation was transferred to the Specialized Unit for the Investigation of Crimes Committed Against the LGBTTTIQ Community, created in 2020.
This news outlet confirmed the information with the same department of the Prosecutor's Office. They also indicated that "the corresponding procedures were completed and an investigation file was opened with different lines of inquiry. One of them considers hate based on sexual preference (sexual orientation)."
“In Puebla, hate is legal.””
According to the National Survey on Discrimination ( ENADIS, 2022 ), the LGBT+ population reported experiencing the most discrimination. Puebla ranked second in the country where Mexicans experienced discriminatory acts, 7% above the national average.
“In Puebla, hate speech is legal. Discriminatory rhetoric is legal, and so is impunity. A few months ago, the existence of a Telegram group ; its objective was to murder LGBT+ people in Tehuacán (a municipality in Puebla). But we also have a bill in Congress targeting transgender children, and this Specialized Unit isn't doing its job. They aren't trained to empower victims to pursue their own path to justice, and there's little transparency regarding how many convictions there have been or who is currently under investigation. How can justice be achieved in these cases when the prosecutor's office isn't prepared?” denounces Carlos Escobar, an LGBT activist from Puebla.
Puebla's Attorney General, Gilberto Higuera, reported at a press conference that "we are progressing very quickly and we will be able to determine if it was a crime with those characteristics (hate crime)."
Impunity persists
In Mexico, only 13 states—including Puebla and Veracruz—have criminalized homicide motivated by hate based on gender identity in their penal codes. However, impunity prevails.
In Veracruz, explains activist Jazz Bustamante, only one conviction for the crime of aggravated homicide motivated by hate based on sexual orientation. Since 2012, at least 10 people have been arrested, but not sentenced, for crimes against LGBT+ individuals.
The same thing is happening in Puebla. Despite the existence of the Specialized Unit for the Investigation of Crimes against the LGBT Community , it has only issued one sentence for attempted homicide “against an LGBT person.” The sentence does not mention that the victim was Jeidy , an Indigenous trans woman, and, moreover, uses the term “sexual preference.”
“Not only in Veracruz, but throughout the country, the outstanding issues we face are the lack of a cross-cutting approach in all these public policies approved to prevent violence; and access to justice without discrimination and without revictimization remains a challenge,” concludes Jazz Bustamante.
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